Homily 15 — First Timothy 5, verses 11 to 20

“But refuse the younger widows. For when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they will marry, bringing condemnation on themselves, because they have cast off their first faith. And besides that, they learn to be idle, going around from house to house; and not only idle, but gossips and busybodies too, saying things they should not. So I want the younger widows to marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan.” [a]

Paul has said a great deal about widows. He has fixed the age at which they were to be admitted, saying, “Let no widow be put on the list under sixty years old.” He has described what a widow should be: “if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the feet of the saints.” Now he goes on to say, “But refuse the younger widows.”

Yet about virgins he has said nothing of this kind, though a virgin’s fall is a far grosser thing — and rightly so. For they had enrolled themselves with higher aims, and what they undertook came from a loftier frame of mind. So the receiving of strangers and the washing of the feet of the saints he has expressed, for them, by “attending upon the Lord without distraction” (First Corinthians 7, verse 35), and by the words, “The one who is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord” (First Corinthians 7, verse 34). And if he has not fixed a particular age for them, it is most likely because that point is settled by what he has said in this case.

But in fact, as I said, the choice of virginity came from a higher purpose. Besides, in the case of the widows there had been falls, and so they had given occasion for his rule; nothing of that kind had happened among the virgins. That some had already fallen away is plain, since he says, “When they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they will marry,” and again, “For some have already turned aside after Satan.”

“Refuse the younger widows, for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they will marry” — that is, when they have become scornful and given to luxury. It is like what we might say in the case of a righteous man: “Let her go, for she has become another’s.” So he shows that though they chose widowhood, they did not choose it with settled judgment. [b]

So, then, a widow, by her very state of widowhood, is betrothed to Christ. For he has said, “I am the defender of the widows and the father of the orphans” (Psalm 68, verse 5). Paul shows that they do not choose widowhood as they ought, but grow wanton; yet he bears with them. Elsewhere, indeed, he says, “I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 2).

After they have given him their names, “they will marry,” he says, “bringing condemnation on themselves, because they have cast off their first faith.” By “faith” he means faithfulness to their covenant. It is as though he had said: they have been false to Christ, they have dishonored him, and they have broken their covenant with him. “And besides that, they learn to be idle.”

So he commands not only men but women too to work. For idleness is the teacher of every sin. And they are exposed not only to this condemnation, but to other sins as well. If, then, it is unbecoming for a married woman “to go around from house to house,” much more is it for a virgin. “And not only idle, but gossips and busybodies too, saying things they should not. So I want the younger widows to marry, bear children, manage their households.”

What happens, then, when the care for a husband is taken away, and the care to please God does not hold them in check? They naturally become idle, gossips and busybodies. For whoever does not attend to his own affairs will meddle in other people’s, just as whoever minds his own business will take no account of another’s affairs and give them no thought. Nothing is so unbecoming to a woman as busying herself in other people’s concerns — and it is no less unbecoming to a man. It is a great sign of shamelessness and of pushing oneself forward.

“So I want,” he says — since they themselves wish it — “the younger widows to marry, bear children, manage their households.” [d]

This course is at least better than the other. They ought indeed to be concerned with the things of God; they ought to keep their faith. But since they do not do this, it is better to avoid the worse course. God is not dishonored by their marrying again, and they do not fall into the practices that have been condemned. No good could come from a widowhood like that, but good may come out of this marriage. In this way the women will be able to correct that laziness and emptiness of mind.

But since some have fallen away, why does he not say that great care must be taken of them, so that they do not fall into the error he has mentioned? Why has he commanded them to marry? Because marriage is not forbidden, and it is a safeguard for them. That is why he adds that they should “give no occasion” — no handle — “to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan.”

So it was widows like these that he would have refused. He did not mean that there should be no younger widows, but that there should be no adulteresses; that none should be idle, or busybodies saying things they should not; that no occasion should be given to the adversary. If nothing of this kind had taken place, he would not have forbidden them.

Verse 16: “If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, so that it may relieve those who are truly widows.”

Notice how once again he calls those “truly widows” who are left destitute and have no help from any other quarter. It was better to have it so, for in this way two great ends were gained: the givers had an opportunity to do good, while the widows were supported honorably, and the church was not burdened. And he has rightly said, “If any believer.” For it is not fitting that believing women should be supported by unbelievers, or they would seem to stand in need of them.

And see how persuasively he speaks. He has not said, “let them maintain them lavishly,” but “let them relieve them.” “So that the church,” he says, “may relieve those who are truly widows.” So the woman who gives this help has its reward as well. For she who helps the church helps not the church only, but also those widows whom the church is in this way able to support more generously.

“So I want the younger widows” — to do what? To live in luxury and pleasure? Not at all — “to marry, bear children, manage their households.” So that he may not be thought to encourage them to live in luxury, he adds, “and give the adversary no occasion to speak reproachfully.” They ought indeed to have risen above the things of this world; but since they have not, let them at least live uprightly among them.

Verses 17 and 18: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.’” [e]

The “honor” he speaks of here is care for them and the supply of what they need. His next words show this: “You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain” (Deuteronomy 25, verse 4), and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (Luke 10, verse 7). So too, when he says, “Honor widows,” he means “support” them in everything they need. That is why he says, “so that it may relieve those who are truly widows,” and again, “Honor widows who are truly widows” — that is, those who are in poverty. For the greater their poverty, the more truly they are widows.

He brings forward the law, and he brings forward the words of Christ, and both agree on this. For the law says, “You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain.” See how hard he would have the teacher work! For there is not — there truly is not — any other labor like his. But that is from the law. How does he quote from Christ? “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

So let us not look only to the wages, but to the terms of the command. “The laborer,” he says, “is worthy of his wages.” So if anyone lives in idleness and luxury, he is not worthy of them. Unless he is like the ox treading out the grain, bearing the yoke in spite of heat and thorns, and does not stop until he has carried the grain into the granary, he is not worthy.

Teachers, then, should be given what they need without grudging, so that they do not lose heart or grow discouraged, and do not deprive themselves of greater things by attending to lesser ones; so that they may labor for spiritual things and pay no attention to worldly ones. So it was with the Levites. They had no worldly concerns, because the lay people took care to provide for them, and their revenues were fixed by the law: tithes, offerings of gold, firstfruits, vows, and many other things. And the law rightly assigned these things to them, since it was concerned with things present. But I will say no more than this: those who preside ought to have food and clothing, so that they are not distracted by worrying about these things.

But what is double support? Double that of the widows, or of the deacons, or simply generous support. So let us not think only of the double maintenance granted them, but of what is added: “who rule well.” And what is it to rule well? Let us hear Christ, who says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10, verse 11). So to rule well is never to spare ourselves, out of our concern for them.

“Especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.” Where, then, are those who say there is no need for the word and for teaching? For he says to Timothy, “Meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them,” and, “Give attention to reading, to encouragement, to teaching; for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (First Timothy 4, verses 15 and 16). These are the men he wants honored most of all, and he adds the reason: they bear great labor. [g]

Suppose one man is neither watchful nor diligent, but simply sits in his stall at his ease, without a care, while another wears himself out with anxiety and exertion — especially if he has no training in pagan literature. Ought not the second to be honored above all the rest, since more than the others he gives himself up to such labors? For he is exposed to countless tongues. One finds fault with him, another praises him, a third mocks him, another criticizes his memory and his composition; and it takes great strength of mind to bear all this.

It is an important matter, and does much to build up the church, that its leaders should be able to teach. If this is lacking, many things in the church go to ruin. That is why, besides the qualities of hospitality, moderation and a blameless life, he lists this one too, saying, “able to teach.” For why else is he called a teacher?

Some say that he may teach philosophy by the example of his life, so that everything else is superfluous, and there is no need of spoken instruction for anyone to make progress. But then why does Paul say, “especially those who labor in the word and in teaching”? When it comes to doctrines, what kind of life will serve the purpose? And what word is he speaking of? Not pompous language, nor speech decked out with outward ornament, but the word that has the mighty power of the Spirit and is rich in wisdom and understanding. It needs not polished phrases, but thoughts to give it utterance; not skill in composition, but strength of mind.

Verse 19: “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except before two or three witnesses.” [j]

May we, then, receive an accusation against a younger man, or against anyone at all, without witnesses? Ought we not in every case to reach our judgments with the greatest exactness? What, then, does he mean? Do not do so with anyone, he means, but especially in the case of an elder. For he speaks of an elder not in respect of office but of age, since the young fall into sin more easily than their elders. And it is plain from this that the church — and even the whole people of Asia — had by now been entrusted to Timothy. That is why he talks with him about elders.

Verse 20: “Rebuke those who sin in front of everyone, so that the rest also may be afraid.”

Do not cut them off hastily, he says, but inquire carefully into all the circumstances; and when you have fully informed yourself, then proceed against the offender with severity, so that others may take warning. For just as it is wrong to condemn hastily and rashly, so not to punish open offenses is to open the way to others and embolden them to offend.

“Rebuke,” he says, to show that it is not to be done lightly, but with severity. For that is how others will be deterred. [k]

How is it, then, that Christ says, “If someone sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” (Matthew 18, verse 15)? But Christ himself allows the man to be censured in the church. What, then? “Is it not a greater stumbling block that someone should be rebuked in front of everyone?” How so? It is a far greater stumbling block that the offense should be known and not the punishment. For just as many commit crimes when sinners go unpunished, so many are made better when they are punished. God himself acted in this way. He brought Pharaoh forward and punished him openly. And Nebuchadnezzar too, and many others, both cities and individuals, we see visited with punishment. So Paul would have everyone stand in awe of their bishop, and he sets him over all.

And because many judgments are formed on suspicion, there ought, he says, to be witnesses — men to convict the offender according to the ancient law: “At the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter shall be established” (Deuteronomy 19, verse 15). “Do not receive an accusation against an elder.” He does not say, “do not condemn,” but “do not receive an accusation” — do not bring him to trial at all.

But what if the two witnesses are false? This seldom happens, and it may be found out by examination at the trial. For since offenses are committed in secret, we ought to be satisfied with two witnesses, and this is proof enough for an inquiry.

But what if the offenses are notorious, and yet there are no witnesses, only a strong suspicion? It has been said above that he ought “to have a good report from those outside” (First Timothy 3, verse 7). [m]

So let us love God with fear. The law, indeed, is not made for a righteous man. But since most people are virtuous from compulsion rather than from choice, the principle of fear is a great help to them in rooting out their desires. So let us listen to the threats of the fire of hell, so that we may profit from a healthy fear of it. For if God, meaning to cast sinners into it, had not first threatened them with it, many would have plunged into it. If, with this terror stirring our souls, some still sin as readily as if there were no such thing, what outrages would we not have committed if it had never been declared and threatened?

So, as I have always said, the threats of hell show God’s care for us no less than the promises of heaven. For the threat works together with the promise, and drives people into the kingdom by means of terror. Let us not think it a matter of cruelty, but of pity and mercy, of God’s concern and love for us. If the destruction of Nineveh had not been threatened in the days of Jonah, that destruction would not have been averted.

Nineveh would not have stood but for the threat, “Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3, verse 4). And if hell had not been threatened, we would all have fallen into hell. If the fire had not been proclaimed, no one would have escaped the fire. God declares that he will do what he does not want to do, so that he may do what he wants to do. He does not want the death of a sinner, and that is why he threatens the sinner with death: so that he may not have to inflict death. [n]

And he has not only spoken the word; he has shown the thing itself, so that we may escape it. So that it would not be thought a mere threat, he has made its reality plain by what he has already done on earth. Do you not see in the flood a sign of hell, and in that rain of all-destroying water an image of the all-devouring fire? “For as it was in the days of Noah,” he says, “they were marrying and giving in marriage” (Matthew 24, verse 38) — and so it is even now. That was foretold long before it took place, and this is foretold four hundred years or more beforehand; but no one heeds it. It is looked on as a mere fable, a thing to laugh at. No one fears it, no one weeps or beats his breast at the thought of it. The river of fire is boiling up, the flame is kindled, and we are laughing, taking our pleasure, and sinning without fear.

No one even keeps that Day in mind. No one considers that present things are passing away and last only for a time, though events cry out every day and utter a fearful voice. Untimely deaths, the changes that take place in our lives, our own weaknesses and diseases — none of these teach us. And these changes are visible not only in our own bodies but in the elements themselves. Every day, through our different ages, we undergo a kind of death, and in every case instability is the mark of the things we see.

Neither winter nor summer nor spring nor autumn stays; all are running, flying, flowing past. Why should I speak of fading flowers, of high offices, of kings who are here today and tomorrow are no more, of rich men, of magnificent houses, of night and day, of the sun and the moon? For the moon wanes, and the sun is sometimes eclipsed and often darkened with clouds. In short, of the things we see, is there anything that lasts forever? Nothing! No, and nothing in us either, except the soul — and that we neglect. We take great care of things subject to change, as if they were permanent; but what is to last forever we neglect, as if it were soon to pass away.

Someone is able to do mighty deeds; but they last until tomorrow, and then he perishes, as we see in those who have had still greater power and are now to be seen no more. Life is a dream and a stage scene. As in the theater, when the scenery is changed, the various spectacles disappear, and as dreams flit away when the sunbeams rise, so here, when the end comes — whether the end of all things or each one’s own — everything is dissolved and vanishes. The tree you planted remains, and the house you built still stands; but the one who planted and the one who built go away and perish. Yet these things happen without our paying them any attention, and we live on in luxury and pleasure, always furnishing ourselves with such things as though we were immortal.

Hear what Solomon says, who knew the present world by actual experience: “I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself, I made myself gardens and orchards and pools of water. I also gathered silver and gold for myself. I got myself men singers and women singers, and flocks and herds” (Ecclesiastes 2, verses 4 and 5). No one ever lived in greater luxury or higher glory. No one was so wise or so powerful; no one saw everything turn out so much as his heart desired. What then? He had no enjoyment from all these things. What, after all, does he himself say of it? [o]

“Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 12, verse 8). Not vanity simply, but vanity in the highest degree. Let us believe him, and take hold of that in which there is no vanity, in which there is truth: what is built on solid rock, where there is no old age and no decline, but everything blooms and flourishes without decay, without growing old, without coming near dissolution. Let us, I beg you, love God with genuine affection — not from fear of hell, but from desire for the kingdom. For what can compare with seeing Christ? Surely nothing!

What can compare with enjoying those good things? Surely nothing! And well may nothing compare, for “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love him” (First Corinthians 2, verse 9). Let us be eager to obtain those things, and let us despise all these. Are we not always complaining that human life is nothing? Then why are you anxious about what is nothing? Why do you put up with such toil for what is nothing? [p]

You see splendid houses. Does the sight of them lead you astray? Look up to heaven. Raise your eyes from pillars of stone to that beautiful structure, compared with which the others are like the work of ants. Learn philosophy from that sight: climb up to heavenly things, and from there look down on our splendid buildings, and see that they are nothing, mere toys for little children. Do you not see how much finer, how much lighter, how much purer, how much clearer the air is, the higher you climb? There those who give alms have their rooms and their tents.

The buildings here are dissolved at the resurrection — or rather, destroyed before the resurrection by the blow of time. Often, too, when they are at their finest and in their prime, an earthquake throws them down or fire ruins them completely. For not only men’s bodies but their very buildings are subject to untimely deaths. Indeed, sometimes buildings decayed with age stand firm under the shock of an earthquake, while gleaming buildings, solidly set and newly built, are struck by nothing more than lightning and perish. And this, I believe, is God’s intervention, so that we may not take pride in our buildings.

Would you like yet another source of cheer? Go to the public buildings, which you share equally with others. For after all, the most magnificent private houses are less splendid than the public buildings. There you may stay as long as you please. They belong to you as much as to anyone else, since you hold them in common with others; they are common property, not private. [q]

“But those give me no pleasure,” you say. They give you no pleasure partly because you are used to them, and partly because of your greed. So the pleasure is not in the beauty, but in owning! So the pleasure lies in greed, and in wanting to make every man’s goods your own!

How long will we be nailed to these things? How long will we be fastened to the earth, crawling like worms in the dirt? God has given us a body of earth so that we might carry it up with us to heaven, not so that we should drag our soul down with it to earth. It is earthly, but if we choose, it can become heavenly. See how highly God has honored us in entrusting so excellent a frame to us.

“I made heaven and earth,” he says, “and to you I give the power of creating. Make your earth heaven, for it is in your power.” “I am he who makes all things and transforms them” (Amos 5, verse 8, in the Greek Old Testament), God says of himself. And he has given human beings a like power, as a painter who is a loving father teaches his own art to his son. “I formed your body beautiful,” he says, “but I give you the power of forming something better: make your soul beautiful. I said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, and every fruit-bearing tree’ (Genesis 1, verse 11). You too say, ‘Let this earth bring forth its proper fruit,’ and what you wish to produce will be produced. ‘I make the summer and the cloud; I create the lightning and the wind’ (Amos 4, verse 13; Psalm 74, verse 17). I formed the dragon” — that is, the devil — “to make sport of him (Psalm 104, verse 26). Nor have I begrudged you the same power. You, if you will, can make sport of him and tie him up as you would a sparrow.

“I make the sun rise on the evil and the good: imitate me by sharing what is yours with the good and the evil. When I am mocked I bear it, and I do good to those who mock me: imitate me as far as you can. I do good, not to be repaid: imitate me, and do good, not to be repaid. I have lit lights in the heavens: light others brighter than these — for you can — by enlightening those who have gone astray. For to know me is a greater benefit than to see the sun. You cannot create a man, but you can make him righteous and pleasing to God. I formed his being: you make his will beautiful. See how I love you, and how I have given you power in the greater things.” [s]

Beloved, see how we are honored! Yet some are so unreasonable and so ungrateful as to say, “Why were we made with free will?” But how could we have imitated God in all the things we have mentioned if there were no free will?

“I rule the angels,” he says, “and so do you, through him who is the firstfruits (First Corinthians 15, verse 23). I sit on a royal throne, and you are seated with me in him who is the firstfruits.” As it is said, “He raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2, verse 6). “Through him who is the firstfruits, the cherubim and seraphim bow down to you, with all the host of heaven, rulers and authorities, thrones and dominions. Do not belittle your body, to which such high honors belong that the bodiless powers tremble at it.”

“But what shall I say? It is not in this way only that I have shown my love for you, but by what I suffered. For you I was spat on; I was whipped. I emptied myself of glory. I left my Father and came to you — you who hate me, turn away from me, and do not want to hear my name. I pursued you, I ran after you, so that I might overtake you. I united you and joined you to myself. ‘Eat me, drink me,’ I said. Above I hold you, and below I embrace you. Is it not enough for you that I have your firstfruits above? Does this not satisfy your love? “I came down below. I am not only mingled with you; I am entwined in you. I am chewed, broken into tiny pieces, so that the mingling and blending and union may be more complete. Things that are united still remain within their own limits, but I am woven together with you. I want there to be no more division between us. I want us both to be one.” [t]

So, knowing these things and remembering his great care for us, let us do everything that may show us not unworthy of his great gift. May God grant that we all obtain it, through the grace and love for humankind of Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.